The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Many building and vehicles such as recreational vehicles (RV's) and boats use visors, awnings, canopies or blinds to protect against solar radiation, provide shade and keep buildings or vehicles cool. These structures are common place and several prior arts exists for these solutions.
People have also attempted to incorporate solar panels into these shade providing structures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,634 describes a solar visor with solar modules mounted on an outward sun facing surface that can be mounted on a vehicle for converting solar energy into electrical energy.
All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,093,583 describes method of incorporating solar cells into a transportable canopy. This patent describes a solar canopy structure capable of folding into a compact form for transporting, and for simple unfolding for attachment to a base. However, once transported to the site of installation, this foldable canopy requires a ground mounted support beam on which the solar panels are deployed unlike our embodiment where the solar panels can be mounted on a vertical surface and can be truly mobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,576,282, DE202009000485, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,433,259, 8,748,729 and EP1082502 all describe retractable awnings that incorporate solar cells. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,576,282, 8,748,729 and EP1082502 describe embodiments in which the solar modules are flexible and roll-able and the expansion/retraction of the awning is achieved by rolling the thin film solar modules onto a rotating drum at the base of the awning, just as you would with a traditional awning. The issue with this methodology is that all these solutions require the use of thin film solar cells in a roll-able fabric like form. Such roll-able film solar panels either do not have high enough efficiencies (as in the case of amorphous silicon cells) or are very expensive (like III-V cells or CIGS). Additionally, the rolling and un-rolling of the thin film solar cells lead to fatigue in the cells and has the potential to reduce its life span. U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,259 and DE202009000485 also use the rotation of the awning fabric on a roller to operate the awning, however in these embodiments the solar cells are rigid and are integrated as a strip at the beginning or the end of the awning fabric, locations where rotation on the roller does not happen. The issue with this approach is that energy generating surface area in these embodiments is limited given that only a narrow solar strip can be incorporated in these designs. Hence not enough energy can be generated from these implementations. No attempt has been made to design an entire awning using standard solar cells that are more rigid.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,997,322 and US20130011583 describe a structural element that can be used as a covering device for surfaces or for windows, doors, or similar openings and has movable elements joined in zigzag fashion and is capable of being fanned out and closed like a fan. The author has suggested that solar cells can be incorporated into the movable element. However, the fundamental claim in this application assumes a pivotal motion of the various elements around a pivot axis, which is inherently different from the mechanism of our embodiment where the panels are pulled away from the base laterally using an accordion type of movement. In these referenced patents, the motion of the fan from its retracted state to its expanded state and back to its retracted state occurs on the surface on which it is mounted unlike in the inventive subject matter where the panels extend away from the surface on which it is mounted for its operation.
Thus, there is still a need for solar awning systems that are portable and collapse easily.